Sunday, September 21, 2014

Voreqe Bainimarama-led FijiFirst party is set to win more than 25 parliament seats out of the total 50 seats in Fiji’s 2014 General Election, tally results of the Fijian Elections Office showed on Sunday.

Fiji’s current constitution provides for a unicameral 50-member parliament, which will be the country’s supreme authority and be elected on the basis of one person, one vote, one value. Elections are to be held every four years and every Fijian over the age of 18 is entitled to vote in the single, nationwide constituency.

FijiFirst has secured over 287,000 votes, or around 59.5 percent of the total counted votes, while its arch opponent, the Social Democratic Liberal Party has nabbed only around 137,000 votes, or around 28.4 percent.

The rest five parties and two independent candidates grasped less than 60,000 votes in total. Even if FijiFirst loses all the votes that have not been counted yet, it can still enjoy more than 50 percent of the total votes.

In line with Fiji’s electoral decree, political parties or independent candidates need to secure at least five percent of the total votes to win seats in the parliament, otherwise they are not entitled to any seat.

Therefore, FijiFirst is likely to get around 33 seats and form the next government, while the Social Democratic Liberal Party and the National Federation Party, the only two other parties that have passed the five percent of votes threshold, will get the rest of the seats as the opposition.

Earlier Sunday, Bainimarama delivered his victory speech, promising that he will form a government for all Fijians, regardless of race or religion.

“I am greatly honored and humbled that the Fijian people put their trust in me to lead them into our new and true democracy, my absolute promise that we will govern for the well being of all Fijians,” he told more than 3,000 people at a stadium of the capital of Suva.

Bainimarama, leader of the country’s 2006 coup and former commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, thanked the military “who have stood for the ideal of true democracy” for the support over the years.

“I publicly acknowledge and thank them (military) for their camaraderie, vision, perseverance and their sacrifice. It is their legacy that today we have a democratically elected parliamentary government under an internationally acclaimed constitution with a vast array of civil, political and social economic rights and that will deliver good governance and transparency,” he said.

Last Thursday, a day after the Sept. 17 election voting, the Multinational Observer Group, which has been monitoring the 2014 General Election process, said in their provisional report that in its view, the election is credible, and the outcome of the election will broadly represent the Fijian voters and the conditions were in place for those people to exercise their voting rights freely.

Led by Australia, Indonesia as well as India, the Multinational Observer Group, invited by the Fijian government to observe the election, congratulated the Fijian people on taking the key step in the South Pacific island nation’s return to democracy.

As per the constitution, after a general election, the member elected to the parliament who is the leader of a political party which has won more than 50 percent of the total number of seats in the parliament assumes office as the prime minister.

However, if no one political party has won more than 50 percent of the total number of seats in parliament, it would be up to the members of parliament to nominate and elect the prime minister with a support rate of more than 50 percent. Media agencies

FII inflows in debt market cross Rs 1 lakh cr mark in 2014

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Overseas investors have pumped in a staggering over Rs 1 lakh crore into the Indian debt market since the beginning of the year primarily on account of government’s reform agenda.

As per the latest data, foreign investors have purchased debt securities worth Rs 2,82,194 crore in this year so far, while they offloaded bonds to the tune of Rs 1,64,820 crore during the same period, resulting into a net inflow of Rs 1,17,374 crore (USD 19.45 billion).

These huge inflows included a net investment of Rs 14,900 crore in this month so far.

According to market experts, improved fundamentals of the Indian economy, a decisive mandate to the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, various reform measures announced by the government and high interest rate have caught the fancy of overseas investors (Foreign Institutional Investors, sub-accounts and Foreign Portfolio Investors).

The inflow is also significantly higher in debt compared to equities, which till date have attracted Rs 85,330 crore (USD 14.2 billion).

Interestingly, most of the inflow into Indian debt has gone into government securities.

Since 16th May, when the election results were announced, overseas investors have poured in close to Rs 86,000 crore in the Indian debt market, as the verdict met foreign investors’ expectations in the Lok Sabha polls.

In 2013, foreign investors had pulled out a net amount of Rs 50,848 crore from the country’s bond market.

The strong inflows in the recent months have taken the cumulative net investments of foreign investors into Indian debt market to Rs 2.22 lakh crore, while their investments in dollar terms is USD 44 billion.

This is based on the data since November 1992 when overseas investors began investing into Indian markets.

In the light of the hectic lifestyles of today, it is not surprising to find a rising statistical trend of the prevalence of Alzhemier’s disease. The WHO (2007) estimates that while there are currently about 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease, this figure is projected to nearly double by 2025, especially in the developing countries.

Dr. Samir Parikh, Director, Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Hospital, As we get busier in our daily lives, running behind deadlines, multitasking and getting stressed, it is fairly common for most of us to experience lapses of memory. We might not remember the deadline for a submission until the last minute, we may miss our appointment for our doctor’s visit, may forget to shop for groceries on the way back home, or might stand in front of an open cupboard and wonder what we were looking for!

While forgetfulness and memory decline is accepted as a normal part and parcel of the degenerative ageing process, it is necessary to spread an awareness of the warning signs, which could enable the earlier identification of an Alzheimer’s disease. Earlier identifications would pave the way for beginning the treatment process. Even though the deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s disease cannot be reversed or stalled, its progress can be slowed, with the provision of appropriate support networks for the person as well as the family in order to help preserve the functioning for a longer period of time.

Whenever a person is suffering from memory loss that disrupts the person’s functioning in his or her daily life, there is an indication of suspecting the diagnosis for an Alzheimer’s disease. Even though its lifetime prevalence rates are significantly higher in the older populations, nevertheless an earlier onset is not uncommon, and hence we should be aware of the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Inability to recall previously learnt information – The most common signs of Alzheimer’s disease include misplacing things frequently, forgetting names, appointments, important dates or events; asking the same questions repeatedly. Such individuals begin to depend on others’ guidance and assistance for things they might have previously been confident of completing independently.

Difficulty in recalling vocabulary of common words – Often these people might have problems with new words both in oral as well as written forms. They might have problems in following or joining conversations, and hence would often be seen avoiding communication in social situations. They might stop in the middle of a conversation, not knowing how to continue, forgetting where they left off, and ending up repeating themselves. They can struggle to find the right word, and often get confused in spellings as well.

Social withdrawal – Such people may end up excluding themselves from social situations, in order to avoid an embarrassment due to their confused state. They avoid making conversations, and prefer staying alone.

Difficulty in recognizing familiar people – It can be very distressing for family and friends, as the person may start getting confused and misrecognizing the familiar people around them, mixing up their names, and at later stages even being unable to recognize their near and dear ones, treating them like strangers instead.

Disturbances in executive functioning – They are unable to plan and organize activities, and find it difficult to keep track of monthly accounts, forgetting the sequence of a familiar recipe, along with difficulty in concentrating on tasks, with delayed reaction times, and slower responses.

Disorientation – Such people may often get confused with time or place, losing track of days, seasons, years and even the passage of time very easily. They might forget where they are, or how they reached there, and for how long they have been there.

Daily tasks become a chore – Even familiar and routine tasks may end up becoming a challenge, as they might find it difficult to complete tasks at home, work or for leisure. Often such people do not admit that they do not recollect how to go about such mundane chores, and are even labelled as being lazy and unmotivated to complete their routine tasks.

Changes in mood and personality – People with Alzheimer’s disease usually tend to become irritable and easily upset. It is annoying for them to realize their helplessness, and this frustration often leads to suspiciousness and mistrust of others around them. They remain confused, and may also become anxious or depressed.

It is important to realize that Alzheimer’s disease does not just impact the individual’s life, but further more also has an adverse influence on the caregivers. In fact getting support from the family and friends is a vital step towards the management of Alzheimer’s disease. Since it is a progressive degeneration, enabling an earliest identification and seeking professional help is imperative to be able to reduce the pace of deterioration. With the help of medications as well as neuropsychological support, it is possible to help the individual preserve his level of functioning for a longer period of time.

The relation between memory and emotions is clearly established, and research has shown evidence for changes in lifestyle to help improve our memory.

Lifestyle management – Regular physical exercise, and adequate sleep and appetite are essential to help in reduction of our stress levels, thereby helping us stay mentally active. We should organize our daily schedule in order to manage a healthier lifestyle.

Memory aids – Using visual cues like wall charts, post-it notes, checklists, and calendar diaries helps in planning as well as remembering. Repetitive practice and mental retracing helps in learning newer information, using methods like chunking, first letter acronyms, method of loci and word games.

Intellectual stimulation – It is important not only to keep ourselves physically fit, but also mentally active. Solving Sudoku, mazes, and other puzzles, reading, or learning any novel activity like a new language or musical instrument, that makes us use activate our brain cells is the best exercise we can provide to maintain our memory.